Broadband Now What? Lessons from Vermonts Digital Experience - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Sharon Combes-Farr

Vermont Digital Economy Project Director (2013-2014) (Now Director of Sales & Marketing, Sovernet Communications)

We Have Broadband… Now What?

Lessons from Vermont’s Digital Experience

Vermont Digital Economy Project

Created by the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) $2.2 Million Project (18 months) Disaster Recovery Grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) Informed by the e-Vermont Initiative Promoting Digital Tools to 50 Vermont Towns Impacted by Floods

Vermont Digital Economy Project

Free Public Wi-Fi Town Websites Front Porch Forum IBM Strategic Consulting Small Business Advising Non-Profit Advising Digital Literacy Online Digital Workforce Training

Creating Resilient Communities Building Effective Organizations Bridging the Digital Divide

Importance of Partnerships

“Internet Interns” – State Library and State Colleges Joint Venture Corporate Partnerships:

Federal grant directed by a long-standing state-wide nonprofit

Small Business Consulting Expertise Local Government Expertise 3 Full-time Project Staff

Our Project Results

We kept close tabs on

• ur metrics

throughout the project. This kept the team focused and our funders happy.

Our Project Results

So Many Stories, So Little Time! 26 Wi-Fi Zones & Hot Spots 25 New Town Websites 150 new Front Porch Forums with 40,000 new members 260 Small Businesses Advised One-on-One 120 Nonprofits Advised One-on-One 24 Internet Interns Providing Free Digital Literacy Free Online Digital Workforce Training And…Much More

Creating Resilient Communities

Fostering through better resilience communications

Building Effective Organizations

“There is an expectation

• n the part of modern

consumers that your company will have a professional online presence.”

Pat Ripley eCommerce Director Vermont Small Business Development Center

Building Effective Organizations

Our full-time nonprofit adviser provided one-on-one and small group digital training. He also organized “hack-a- thons” whereby tech experts donated valuable training and web development work for free.

Bridging the Digital Divide

Arguably our most important program was the most rewarding and the easiest to measure…. Our Internet Intern Program. College interns were paid $15 / hour to teach digital literacy at public libraries.

Quick Recap of Major Lessons Learned

Don’t recreate services or positions that are already being performed by another group, bring them into your project as a partner. In the end, every single one of our services boiled down to Digital Literacy. “Internet Interns” still exists at CCV thriving under its third different funding source. Teach Digital Tools at the level the person or the organization is at, whether at the most fundamental level or at the highest tech savvy level. Anyone can learn Digital Skills if you teach at their level AND invest the time. Never under-estimate the importance of what might seem like a small thing. Consider harnessing members of the tech community to volunteer their time. If you focus on people – telling the stories of the lives and the communities you are changing -- then you will find partners and donors. Keep track of your both your stories and your metrics – they are powerful tools.

Questions?

VDEP info on VCRD website

Contact the Vermont Council

• n Rural Development:

Contact Sharon Combes-Farr, former Vermont Digital Economy Project Director:

Final Report PDF